I can't believe I'm building a chicken coop.

[pennyJo1960]

hey this diy old lady had started many screws with the wack of hammer you go girl....
YA....... GIRL POWER.....................

 

[PD-Riverman]

So is there a trick to using them? I'm swearing at them at the moment as they won't go in with my drill or my hammer. Start them with the hammer and they will screw in partway with difficulty. I've pounded them in the rest of the way, now I have 2 that I can't even pound in. I'm wishing I had my 30+ old electric drill but it was stolen, I think more powerful than this battery charged Ryobi . Taking a break cause my arm is worn out.

Starting screws with a hammer is one thing-----finishing them by driving them in defeats the purpose of a screw---holding power goes WAY down.

 

[aart]

So is there a trick to using them? I'm swearing at them at the moment as they won't go in with my drill or my hammer. Start them with the hammer and they will screw in partway with difficulty. I've pounded them in the rest of the way, now I have 2 that I can't even pound in. I'm wishing I had my 30+ old electric drill but it was stolen, I think more powerful than this battery charged Ryobi . Taking a break cause my arm is worn out.

A hammer?? You mean a drill hammer or impact drill? What do you mean by 'pounding' them in? Am picturing you using a hammer to pound them in like a nail.

It can depend on the wood, sometimes it is beneficial to drill a pilot hole for longer screws, or I've also used beeswax on the screws, lubes them up a bit. I like deck and drywall screws because they are self starting.

 

[pennyJo1960]

sometimes even those self starter screws we may have to push too hard to start but should not use a hammer to place a screw all the way in correct very very correct

 

[Molpet]

if your drill only has enough power to get them part way in, back the screw out and use some, bar soap or bees wax or some such to help lube it.

 

[ECarter1217]

looks great so far

 

[rIrs roost]

So, in my last post on here, people said my chicken coop is too small for my flock. I have 5 silkies and 3 modern game bantams and my son came home with 4 fertilized eggs but only 2 hatched the other 2 met their demise - so I have 1 baby silkie and 1 baby modern game. I was so proud of myself for being able to identify them at birth - they were both the same color but one had 5 fingers! Anyway, I had to get a bigger coop and I scrounged around everywhere looking for bigger chicken coops and manoman... the cheapest one I found was $600! There was no way I could afford it so I went ahead to the great unknown of DIY coop building.

I've never built anything in my life! You should've heard me try to explain to the guy at Lowe's... "I need screws to connect 2x4's to build a frame."... "What are you framing?"... "A chicken coop"..."You'll need 2 1/2 or 3 inch deck screws."... "I'm not building a deck, I'm building a chicken coop..."

Anyway, I drew out a plan on paper and ended up throwing the thing away. After I put together the 4 sides, I kept on running into stupid mistakes... like, the coop sides was supposed to be 4 feet wide but it ended up to be 4 feet and 4 inches, so the siding board is too narrow, so I had to use deck boards to put up the side walls. Sigh.

So the only thing left to do is to put the door on - I figured out how to do that I just haven't done it yet. Put the flip-down door on the side for easy egg gathering - also figured out how to do that just haven't done it yet. Put the dishpan egg boxes. And the roof - haven't figured out how to do that yet... seems like there's some tricky mathematics involved in the thing.

So, I thought I'd post a picture to brag about at least accomplishing this much and to keep me motivated to keep trucking along until it is done done done.

great job so far. I could've used you here helping me with mine lol. And it will be definitely worth it when you get the chickes in their new home. And don't worry about the mistakes. We all make them. The secret to a good carpenter is he or she knows how to cover the mistake well. And by the looks of it you are a good one.

 

[pennyJo1960]

if your drill only has enough power to get them part way in, back the screw out and use some, bar soap or bees wax or some such to help lube it.

you and Diva mentioned this also sometimes if you back out a bit then hit again with the drill it will go right in but the soap is easy even bring out dish soap a little bowl put the screw in roll it watch it go..
typo there

 

[jeria]

Thanks... A plain old fashioned regular hammer. I'm limited on tools here as someone broke into my house and stole most of my tools among other things on Christmas Eve about 18 mos. ago. I've replaced tools as I have needed them. I'll try the dish soap as I have no bar soap in my house and see if that helps. I'm on my first wall. If I put lots of pressure on the drill I can get them almost in and then bang them flush with the hammer.

 

[rIrs roost]

Thanks... A plain old fashioned regular hammer. I'm limited on tools here as someone broke into my house and stole most of my tools among other things on Christmas Eve about 18 mos. ago. I've replaced tools as I have needed them. 'll buy a bar of soap tomorrow, not something I have in my house and see if that helps. I'm on my first wall. If I put lots of pressure on the drill I can get them almost in and then bang them flush with the hammer.

does your drill have numbers on it to change the speed? If so you can put it on the slowest setting and it should go all the way in